Parker Green

May I Take Your Order?

All my life, I’ve given people secret nicknames. It’s not that I’m being an asshole or think less of them. Most of the time, I just think of people as characters in a movie, and I take creative liberties imagining their backstories. Like the nerd in high school algebra – Socks and Sandals – I always pictured him striking it rich in tech. Or the woman on the subway with the sweater sets – Tidy Joan – I imagine she works for a tyrant of a boss and is marching to a job she utterly hates. And the loudmouth guy talking on his cell phone – Sidewalk Talk – he’s covering up his failures in bed with extroverted bravado in everything else he does.